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Friday, December 28, 2012

The Health Reform Law and What will Happen to It

Some are jumping for joy and dancing in the halls thinking, “Well I am glad that is over with.” Obamacare is now the law of the land.

Many in Congress abdicated their responsibility either by not reading the PPACA bill before voting, or misguided to vote for it by others.

The decision was purely a partisan decision passed only because Democrats controlled the congress in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority, or rather of that party, not always the majority, that succeeds, by force or fraud, in carrying elections.

—The History of Freedom in Antiquity, 1877

Close to 50% of the legislature were not enthusiastic about this law. The rights of the minority were clearly ignored by the majority, without any consideration of the impact on the minority1 .

(Grace-Marie Turner)

“Though approval of the unpopular law stood at only 38% on Nov. 6, the elections were not a referendum on ObamaCare mainly because Governor Romney was unable to prosecute the case against its most despised provisions – the individual mandate, employer mandate and state-run health exchanges – since all were in the law he signed in Massachusetts.

With the election over and no chance President Obama will sign legislation repealing the law, implementation is proceeding. But the ObamaCare Resistance Movement has begun. Some examples:

Congress: “ObamaCare has to go,” wrote House Speaker John Boehner. He said, “There are essentially three major routes to repeal of the president’s law: the courts, the presidential election process and the congressional oversight process. With two of those three routes having come up short, the third and final one becomes more important than ever.” He pledged “vigorous oversight” and said House committees are already conducting investigations of possible improper spending.

Governors: The health law relies on states to expand insurance coverage through Medicaid and to set up bureaucracies, called exchanges, through which new health insurance subsidies will be distributed. Governor Bobby Jindal wrote a letter to the Department of Health & Human Services explaining why Louisiana will not be creating a state ObamaCare exchange: (“The full extent of damage the [Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act] causes to small businesses, the nation’s economy, and the American health care system will only be revealed with time. The State of Louisiana has no interest in being a party to this failure,” he wrote.

At least 21 states have said they definitely or probably will not set up state exchanges, with Ohio, Wisconsin, Maine, Nebraska, South Carolina, Georgia and Indiana most recently joining the opposition.

Businesses: Companies with more than 50 employees are searching for ways to avoid the penalties for not complying with the law’s employer mandate. They must either provide government-approved health insurance or pay a fine of $2,000 for each full-time worker.But companies can escape the fines if they make the painful decision to cut workers to part-time – defined in the law as less than 30 hours a week. (certainly not an option where unemployment remains high and shows little real evidence for improvement.

Religious leaders: The Obama Administration’s decision to force employers to provide access to contraception, abortion-inducing drugs and sterilization at no cost to their employees has prompted 40 lawsuits by Catholic dioceses and other organizations claiming it violates their First Amendment protection of religious liberty.

Although churches themselves are exempt, the mandate applies to religiously affiliated hospitals, colleges, charities and social service agencies. Cardinal Timothy Dolan recently said the Catholic Church will “not obey” the Obama Administration’s HHS mandate, a policy he classified as “immoral.”

There are three major constituencies opposed to implementation of Obamacare; Religious, Business, Governors and Congress

There is much more to play out in the next 12 months. The current plan is brittle, subject to much criticism and lack of faith in it’s ability to perform as mandated. “(end quote)

1. Tyranny of the Majority (The phrase "tyranny of the majority" (or "tyranny of the masses"), used in discussing systems of democracy and majority rule, envisions a scenario in which decisions made by a majority place its interests so far above those of an individual or minority group as to constitute active oppression, comparable to that of tyrants and despots.)

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Disclaimer

The opinions in this blog or other forms of social media are solely that of Gary M. Levin M.D. Dr. Levin has no financial interests in any medical devices which are discussed or which appear in the blog. Commentary taken from other sources are either quoted or referenced with attribution. Dr Levin does not endorse, nor give financial support to any political organizations.